When the bullets started raining down on the crowd at a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday, Sonny Melton's first reaction was to protect his wife.

"He saved my life," Heather Melton said. "He grabbed me from behind and started running when I felt him get shot in the back."

Sonny Melton, 29, a registered nurse from Tennessee, was soon pronounced dead, one of 59 people who were killed during the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

Dozens of families are going through their own version of agony as Las Vegas officials process the massive crime scene and notify next of kin. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Monday that nearly 60 people were dead and another 527 injured.

"It's a long, laborious process to identify the victims and reunite them with family members to advise them of their situation," Lombardo said.

Elizabeth Reitz and boyfriend Joe Thomas, both of Las Vegas, arrived early to one of two vigils set for 5 p.m. Monday in honor of the victims.

Reitz, a Mandalay Bay bartender on medical leave prior to the shooting, said her best friend was at the festival Sunday night and called her just after the gunshots stopped, still afraid for her life. A man in her friend's group was shot in the stomach; they still weren't sure of his fate Monday afternoon.

Reitz was at home in panic, not knowing how many of her friends had been at the shooting, including her longtime coworkers, whom she considers family.

The couple tried to find out whatever they could on social media.

"Later in the evening, I just kept seeing statuses (on Facebook), people posting that there was still an active shooter at Mandalay," Reitz said. "All my friends were posting that they were put down in the basement. It was just post after post of people saying their goodbyes and that they wish they could talk to their family."

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Victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting that killed at least 59 people are beginning to be identified.
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Here is a look at some of the victims.

Sonny Melton, 29, Tennessee

Melton lived in Big Sandy, Tenn., and was a registered nurse at Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tenn. Heather Melton, his wife, is an orthopedic surgeon there, and officials from the center said they will provide counselors to staff who are struggling to deal with this "horrible incident."

"The thoughts and prayers of the entire HCMC family are with Sonny and Heather’s families," the center's CEO, Thomas Gee, said in a statement.

The couple married in June 2016, according to the wedding website The Knot.

"We were the couple that never should have met, fallen in love or had a future together....but life is funny and we believe God brought us together as soul mates," read their wedding page. "We have shared amazing times together and nearly unbearable heartaches but through it all we have grown stronger in our love for each other and our families."

On Monday, Heather Gulish Melton said she was not yet ready to open up about what she went through.

"I want everyone to know what a kind hearted loving man he was but at this point I can barely breathe," she wrote to USA TODAY.

Adrian Murfitt, 35, Alaska

Adrian Murfitt, 35, a commercial fisherman from Anchorage, seen here with his West Siberian Laika named Paxson, was one of the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of Shannon Gothard)

For Adrian Murfitt, the country music festival was a group celebration after a successful fishing season off the Alaskan coast.

His sister, Shannon Gothard, said Murfitt was every bit the Anchorage native — he played hockey "since he was just a little tot" and would spend months at sea as a commercial fisherman. Gothard said her brother was even talking about going in with a friend to buy their own boat.

That all came to an end Sunday night when a man opened fire and Murfitt, 35, was shot in the neck while he stood near the stage. Gothard said the family was reeling, and she struggled to describe the kind of person he was.

"He was my brother, so of course I thought he was an arrogant little cuss," she said, struggling to laugh. "But only I can say that cause he's my brother. He had this big, jovial, goofy laugh. He'd always try to do the right thing. He had a big heart."

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A family grieves during a candlelight vigil for Charleston Hartfield at Police Memorial Park. Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, was killed Sunday during the mass shooting at a music festival across from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Sherri Camperchioli and Jordan Cassel, volunteers from Las Vegas, staple photos of the mass shooting victims on crosses artist Greg Zanis of Aurora, Ill., constructed. He drove across the country to install them on Las Vegas Boulevard to honor the people killed in the mass shooting. Zanis said he has created crosses for many national tragedies.
Tom Tingle, USA TODAY Network

Jean Green Dunbar of Las Vegas plants shrubs at the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden in the Arts District of Las Vegas Oct. 5. The garden is intended to help the city heal from the massacre that happened Sunday.
Tom Tingle, The Arizona Republic via the USA TODAY Network

Jeanne Belez of Marysville, Ore. places a bouquet of flowers at a memorial on a median on Las Vegas Blvd. near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 4, 2017.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Arizona Diamondbacks remember their former employee Christiana Duarte, who was killed this week in the Las Vegas shooting during pregame ceremonies of the National League Wild Card game on Oct. 4, 2017 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Rob Schumacher, The Arizona Republic, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Crystal Fernandez, left, and Carmen Arias share a moment at a memorial that sprung up on a median on Las Vegas Blvd. near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 4, 2017.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Linda Proctor hugs Dr. Robert T. Baggott as her husband, Donnie Proctor, waits to the right during a memorial at Community Church of Vero Beach, Fla. on Oct. 4, 2017, for those who died in the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Jeremiah Wilson, TCPalm, via USA TODAY NETWORK

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania arrive at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. . President Trump is planning on meeting victims of Sunday's mass shooting.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

With the lights of the Las Vegas Strip as a backdrop, people gathered on a vacant lot on Las Vegas Blvd. for a candlelight vigil in the memory of the victims of the Mandalay Bay mass shooting, Oct. 2, 2017.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Michael Kordich, 34, a firefighter with the San Bernardino County Fire Dept., performed CPR on a fellow concert goer who had been shot, before Kordich himself was shot in the arm during the Las Vegas massacre. He talks about the life-changing events from his hospital bed at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Oct. 3, 2017.
Tom Tingle, The Arizona Republic via the USA TODAY Network

Sara Rivero, on right, with her mom Laura Rodriguez, in center and Gisell Rivera, her step mother, burn a candle at the memorial site on Las Vegas Blvd, for friends who died at the concert.
Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic via the USA TODAY Network

Members of the Las Vegas community pray during an emotional vigil for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting at Mountain Crest Park, Oct. 3, 2017.
Jay Calderon, The Desert Sun Via the USA TODAY Nertwork

Matthew Edwards puts a teddy bear and flowers at the memorial site. When asked about his feelings he said "I cannot understand what has happened here... what would drive a man to do what he did"
Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic via the USA TODAY Network

With the lights of the Las Vegas Strip as a backdrop, people gathered on a vacant lot on Las Vegas Blvd. for a candlelight vigil in the memory of the victims of the Mandalay Bay mass shooting, Oct. 2, 2017.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

People gather at Trocadero plaza as the lights of the Eiffel tower are turned off, in Paris on Oct. 2, 2017. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said the Eiffel tower will turn off its lights to pay tribute to Las Vegas and Marseille victims.
Kamil Zihnioglu, AP

The American flag is at half-staff at the White House in Washington on Oct. 2, 2017. President Donald Trump ordered that flags be lowered at all government buildings to honor the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

People walks past flowers left on a pedestrian bridge overlooking Las Vegas Blvd. in Las Vegas on Oct. 2, 2017, two blocks from the Mandalay Bay Hotel Casino where a gunman killed dozens and injured hundreds of people attending a concert.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Broken windows are seen on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino after a lone gunman opened fired on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas.
David Becker, Getty Images

An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas.
Ethan Miller, Getty Images

A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals.
John Locher, AP

People are searched by Las Vegas police at the Tropicana Las Vegas during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.
Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP

A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer stands in the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave. after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas.
Ethan Miller, Getty Images

People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
David Becker, Getty Images

Sandra Casey, a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School, was shot and killed during a country music festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of Manhattan Beach Unified School District)

Teachers at Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Middle School started their day Monday delivering tragic news to their students: one of their own died in the Las Vegas shooting.

Sandra Casey, a special education teacher at the school for the past nine years, was among those killed, according to the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. She was part of a group of school officials who attended the music festival.

The school informed students Monday morning, and had counselors on call to help students, and Casey's colleagues, as they struggled to make sense of her death.

The district released a statement saying Casey will be remembered for her sense of humor, her own continuing education, and, above all, her dedication to her students.

"We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students," said district superintendent Michael Matthews.

Quinton Robbins, 20, Nevada

Robbins, a 20-year-old victim of the Las Vegas shooter, was an avid fisherman and snowboarder who spent his final moments with his sister, according to social media posts. He lived in Henderson, Nev.

Family members paid tribute to the young man on Facebook on Monday and established a GoFundMe account to help pay for his funeral expenses.

"He was the most kind and loving soul," his aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, wrote on Facebook. "Everyone who met him loved him ... He was truly an amazing person."

Robbins studied at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and worked in recreation for the city of Henderson. City officials said Monday they could not comment on his death.

His Facebook account and those of his friends are full of pictures of him fishing and snowboarding.

His sister, Skylar Robbins, wrote a touching tribute on Twitter, citing the times they snowboarded and rode off-road vehicles together. She also described his final moments after the shooting.

"Everything you said made me laugh no matter how stupid it was," she wrote. "Laying next to you in the hospital bed all night was the hardest thing I've gone through, but you made me feel so at peace and I know you are with me."

Susan Smith, 53, California

Susan Smith, an office manager at Vista Elementary School in Simi Valley, Calif., was one of the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of Simi Valley Unified School District)

Within hours of learning about the shooting, visitors started dropping off flowers outside Vista Elementary School, where Susan Smith was a popular office manager.

"She's the hub...really the heart of the school," said Jake Finch, a spokesperson for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Smith, an ardent country music fan who was married with two adult children, attended the music festival with two friends from the school district. By Monday morning, the front office at Visa Elementary was filled with red-eyed parents and employees broken up over her death.

Crisis teams visited each classroom to share the news in an "age-appropriate way," Finch said. Some classes made sympathy cards for Smith's family.

"She was wonderful," Finch said. "She had a great sense of humor. She's patient and kind."

Jordan McIldoon, 23, Canada

McIldoon was attending the country music festival with his girlfriend when he was shot and killed. His parents, Al and Angela McIldoon, told CBC News that he was scheduled to return home Monday night.

"We only had one child," they told the Canadian broadcast network. "We just don't know what to do."

They said McIldoon was a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice and was preparing to start trade school in the Okanagan region of the Canadian province directly north of Washington state. They couple said they were working through the Canadian consulate to figure out the next steps.

Rachael Parker, 33, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Rachael Parker, a records technician at the Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Police Department, was shot and killed during a country music festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.(Photo: Courtesy of Manhattan Beach Police Department)

The first person anybody walking into the Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Police Department saw was Rachael Parker, a civilian employee of the department who served as a records technician and the front desk clerk.

"She was one of the faces of the department," said Kristie Colombo, the department's community affairs officer. "She was always funny and smart and bubbly and always had a smile on her face."

Parker was attending the music festival with three other department employees. One was an off-duty police officer who was shot — Colombo said he's expected to recover. Parker died after being transported to a local hospital.

Colombo said the department was still in shock on Monday. The police chief went to Las Vegas to assist in the cleanup, and those those that remained struggled to cope with their loss.

"She knew and touched a lot of people's lives over the years," Colombo said.

Investigators have still not discovered what motivated Stephen Paddock to embark on the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, but determined that he researched SWAT tactics ahead of the massacre and investigated other possible targets. (Jan. 19)
AP

SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports NHL reporter Kevin Allen believes Las Vegas and its new hockey team have already formed a special bond and culture that could make it a flagship franchise.
USA TODAY Sports

Erick Silva was helping concert goers escape when he was shot and killed. A co-worker who witnessed it moved Silva’s body away from a stampeding crowd. After being shot himself, he found Silva’s mother in order to explain her son’s final moments. (Oct. 8)
AP

Nevada officials said Sunday that seven truckloads of personal belongings had been collected from the scene of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Among the items were purses, cell phones and clothing they were hoping to return to concert-goers. (Oct. 8)
AP

Vice President Mike Pence says in the depths of horror, Americans have found hope in those who risked their lives after the Las Vegas shooting. He made the remarks at a Las Vegas prayer service. (Oct. 7)
AP

Following a ceremony in Las Vegas where U.S. Vice President Mike Pence joined residents in marking last weekend's massacre at a country music concert, doves were released outside City Hall. (Oct. 7)
AP

Las Vegas Police say they still do not have determined a motive for gunman Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 fans gathered at an outdoor concert and injuring 500 more before killing himself on Sunday evening at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. (Oct. 6)
AP

First responders detailed Thursday the chaos that followed the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night. Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell credits emergency response crews with being on scene within five seconds of the attack. (Oct. 5)
AP

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said all 58 victims in the shooting at a Las Vegas concert have been identified and families notified. Fudenberg declined to answer questions about how the victims died. (Oct. 5)
AP

Survivor of the mass shooting at Las Vegas, Heather Melton, of Tennessee, is crediting her husband for her survival. Her 29-year-old husband, Sonny, ultimately died of his injuries after shielding his wife from the barrage of bullets. (Oct. 4)
AP

A Las Vegas shooter’s perch in a 32nd-floor hotel room overlooking 22,000 people jammed into a country music festival below is just the kind of nightmare scenario police dread in places where big crowds and high-rises mix. (Oct. 4)
AP

Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said the alleged Las Vegas gunman had cameras, and he was likely monitoring his surroundings. Lombardo said, "I anticipate he was looking for anybody coming to take him into custody."
USA TODAY

A retired police sergeant from California says he drove to Las Vegas to help as soon as he found out one of his former colleagues, Rachael Parker, had been killed in the Mandalay Bay Resort shooting on Sunday. He called Parker a "great person." (Oct. 3)
AP

Amateur video footage has emerged showing Stephen Paddock's room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas where he fired on concert-goers Sunday evening, killing 59 people. It was recorded by a hotel visitor who stayed in the room in 2016. (Oct. 3)
AP

LAS VEGAS STRIP SHOOTING, AT LEAST 50 DEAD
Gunman had 23 firearms at hotel, 19 more at home | 1:01

Police say the gunman in the Las Vegas Strip shooting had 23 firearms in his hotel room and an additional 19 at one of his two homes. Police say they're searching for a motive for the shooting. (Oct. 3)
AP

More dramatic cell phone video has emerged of the terrifying moment a gunman fired a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500. (Oct 2.)
AP

A motion graphic explaining how the events unfolded when Stephen Paddock opened fire from his hotel room on concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Ramon Padilla, Janet Loehrke George Petras, Jim Sergent USA TODAY

The brother of the suspected Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock, says he's in total disbelief. Eric Paddock says he last talked to his brother months ago via text and saw no warning signs that he would commit mass violence.
USA TODAY

A concertgoer captured the moment a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing scores of people and wounding hundreds of others. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the gunfire began.
AP

Investigators believe Stephen Paddock checked into the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino days before the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Here's what we know about the suspected gunman.
USA TODAY

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police say one of their own was among the scores of concertgoers killed when "lone wolf" gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on crowds at the Route 91 Harvest music festival.
USA TODAY

Video shows Jason Aldean realizing there was a barrage of bullets being fired during his concert in Las Vegas. Katherine Van Buren, who was recording the Facebook Live, said strangers took her into their hotel room after they escaped the shooting.
USA TODAY